The present disclosure relates to a technique for controlling release of data associated with a computer-based account.
Many computer users enjoy keeping in touch with their friends via computer-based systems, such as social networks. The actions and behaviors of users when using a social-networking application, as well as the information that they post, provides a rich source of data for a provider of the social-networking application. In principle, this data can be used by the provider and their third-party partners to suggest additional products and services to the users, which can generate additional revenue for the provider and their third-party partners.
In order to select the additional products and services (and, thus, to generate the additional revenue), the provider often needs to share the data with the third-party partners. However, the sharing of such personal data often raises privacy concerns and can alienate users.
Currently, most providers of the software applications and services address this issue by asking users to agree or consent to their privacy policy, for example by accepting a privacy-policy consent agreement. Typically, such privacy policies are defined by the providers and, as such, encompass the data that the providers believe is shareable.
However, this approach is subject to obvious conflicts of interest between the providers and the users, and is often inadequate. For example, the third-party partners may modify the data they are given and can generate new data, which may be unknown to the original provider or the users, and may be outside the scope of the privacy-policy consent agreements of the original provider. This can pose legal risks to the original provider, and raises privacy concerns that can alienate the users if they find out about the new data that has been generated.